Welcome to my world

SPORTS

NOW WITH SPECIAL PAGES

SOCCER/BASEBALL/HOCKEY/FOOTBALL

EA SPORTS FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

CHICAGO SPORTS CALENDAR

JUNE 21-27, 2010

(OT=OVERTIME, SO=SHOOTOUT, PK=PENALTY KICKS, *=IF NECESSARY)

CHECK OUT ARCHIVED PAGE FROM EARLY SEPT. 2008

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT

CONSERVATIVE TALKER LIMBAUGH OUT OF GROUP TO BID FOR NFL RAMS

PANSY DAVE CHECKETTS & NFL COMMISSIONER GODDELL FOLD UNDER PRESSURE. JUST ANOTHER SIGN OF CONSERVATIVES UNDER ATTACK. SO MUCH FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

OLYMPICS A NO GO

CHICAGO OUT IN 1st ROUND

OBAMAS+OPRAH+DALEY=

JACK SQUAT!

(Tokyo out in 2nd vote)

Mayor Daley's presentation was horrible. He should never be allowed to speak ever again in public. Please go retire in shame with your sweaty upper lip. Pat Ryan looked like he was parched during his speech always smacking his lips. Maybe he was afraid that his false teeth were going to fall out. What a choke job! They would have been better off letting Steve Bartman and the billy goat speak during the presentation. Oh, and  President & Mrs. Obama, please stop being so pompous and making everything about you. Your presentations were self-centered at best. Maybe a non-corrupt administration will bid for and win the games in the future.

WHY CHICAGO AND NOT RIO?

It seems that Friday's announcement from Copenhagen, Denmark, surrounding the choice for hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics is going to be between Rio and Chicago. Many think Rio will get it because the Olympics have yet to visit South America. Do you know why that is?

SOUTH AMERICA IS A DUMP!

They haven't even hosted the World Cup since 1978, and Brazil is unfortunately going to get that in 2014. I know people are looking at taxes and traffic congestion and Mayor Daley's friends making money for this as reasons to be against Chicago hosting the Olympics. Well, his friends already make money from current projects, but at least this event will benefit the whole city and general area in some way beyond his friends. We all know the mayors of all the other candidate cities won't let their friends receive any benefits from getting the games, right? People talk about terrorist attacks, and I say look at Salt Lake 2002. Just months after 9/11, this country put on the Winter Olympics without incident. Unlike Rio and other South American big cities, at least people won't wave to worry about being kidnapped for ransom because they rode in the wrong taxi. If it's between Chicago and Rio, the choice is easy.

CHICAGO ALL THE WAY!

OPRAH & THE OBAMAS IN COPENHAGEN

WILL STAR POWER HELP LAND CHICAGO THE GAMES?

DEPENDS WHO IS GOING.

IN ORDER TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCE FOR A CHICAGO WIN,

3 PEOPLE IN PARTICULAR HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM GOING TO COPENHAGEN.

NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S LACROSSE WINS 5th STRAIGHT NCAA TITLE

WHO CARES?!

I'm not saying this just to be outrageous or because I don't like Northwestern University, or lacrosse, or women's sports. I say this because, really, WHO CARES? I understand that Northwestern's sports history isn't exactly filled with success and trophies nor are the athletic programs of other local schools like DePaul, UIC, and Loyola. I also understand that they have had a couple of undefeated seasons mixed into this long run of championships, so that adds to the accomplishment. I also don't say this because I have something against the sport of lacrosee nor am I a chauvanist. Lacrosse isn't my favorite sport, and I can't say that I know all the rules or anything like that, but I'm not going to pick on it. I enjoy women's team sports very much. My beef with the coverage of this team is that we have a professional lacrosse team in this city (Chicago Machine) that nobody covers. We used to have two, but nobody covered the other one (Chicago Shamrox) either. We also have three professional women's sports teams in this area (Sky-basketball, Red Stars-soccer, and Bandits-softball), and they receive minimal if any coverage as well. Why pick this team while ignoring the professional outfits I mentioned? The only thing people know about this team is that their coach is the sister of a former Blackhawks player, and that the team wore flip flops to the White House a few years ago. I know the Bandits moved from Lisle to Elgin last year, but they won their league championship, and I didn't see highlights about it. The Red Stars just started this year, and I didn't see the fanfare you'd expect to see at the beginning of a new sports team's season. The Sky get a little better treatment mostly because they are the beneficiaries of playing a sport that the media understands better, having games within the city limits at UIC Pavilion, and having most games on TV and radio. This Northwestern lacrosse story belongs on the campus radio station and in the school newspaper, not on the nightly news. As is usual, the sports reporters don't try to give a fair shake to teams. They pick and choose their stories arbitrarily leaving you with a skewed picture of what the sports landscape truly is. They often act like the lunch lady on Friday trying to make something out of the rest of the week's leftovers. Women's college lacrosse isn't what you want. It's just what they serve you.

MY SPORTS STORY

As I said in the "About ME" page, I am a huge sports nut.  I cover high school sports in the newspaper, and I do a radio show.  Hell, I used to do 2 radio shows until one moved to exactly the same time as the other, and I had to make a choice.  I love to play and talk and argue about sports.  I can watch pretty much any sport for at least a few minutes.  My favorite sport is the simplest and most popular game of them all, soccer.  It's beautiful not just because I grew up with it because of my father's influence and the love of the game he brought with him from Italy, but because it's uncontrived.  It's a natural game that allows teams and players to play without restrictions to their talents or strategies.  Just don't use your hands unless you're the goalie and in the penalty area, and don't kick your opponent too much.  Oh, and don't be offside.  That one still gets people confused, but that could be because the morons that run the game keep tinkering with that rule, which is hard enough to call in real time as it is, but that's a whole other story.

I also enjoy hockey and volleyball.  Those two along with soccer I feel demand the most athleticism from people.  There's constant action, and you have to be able to do a lot of different things well in order to be good at any of those three.  Specializing in one particular skill won't take you very far in those sports.  I'm not going to say that I don't follow baseball or football, and to a lesser extent, basketball.  It's just that I can enjoy watching soccer, hockey, and volleyball regardless of who is playing.  I'm not too interested in what's going on if I don't have a rooting interest or it's the World Series, Super Bowl, or NBA Finals.

Even though I live in "Cubs" territory, I am a White Sox fan, and I thank God for that.  I don't have 100 years to waste going to a rat infested urine smelling dump of a park to watch a crappy version of what is a rather boring sport even when it's played properly.  But I have plenty of friends who are Cubs' fans, and we do get along...usually.

I played soccer in high school when I went to Holy Cross (now Guerin Prep), which closed down a few years ago.  Nothing makes you feel older than when your high school closes down before you're even 30.  We were never good, and I didn't play much during my two varsity seasons, but I did enjoy being part of a team even when I didn't always enjoy my teammates.  I wish I had played more, and I wish when I did play that I had played better and we would have won more.  That's seemingly ancient history now, and I just get a laugh out of it when I reflect back to those days.

I follow as much soccer as I can, and it's great havin two soccer teams in this town to cover with the Chicago Fire playing outdoors in MLS and the Chicago Storm playing indoors in a hopefully more structurally sound league very, very soon.  Next year it'll be 3 soccer teams with the new women's league opening up and featuring the Chicago Red Stars.  I hate missing a game.  Most of the people I've been involved with on those teams have been quite nice, so I like to give them support in any way I can.  God knows somebody in the media has to.  It's amazing how media members can kiss the ass of a stinkin' golfer or race car driver who makes piles of money for hitting a little white ball while everyone else is silent or makes 200 left turns every week, but they have no respect for guys who run their asses off showcasing skill, grit, determination, and grace on the field and don't get paid nearly as much.  Don't get me started on that.  I don't ever expect soccer in this country to be on par with baseball and football and such, and I don't even need it or want it to necessarily.  It's all about respect.  Their work deserves respect, and it gets none while the likes of ESPN show highlights of poker tournaments.  That is truly disgusting as a person who enjoys "ATHLETICS."

Hockey is a great sport, and I've learned to enjoy it even more the closer I've followed it.  It doesn't hurt that I've seen the AHL's Chicago Wolves win four championships, and got to see them celebrate two of them up close on the ice and in the locker room as a member of the media.  I obviously can't claim any part of their accomplishment, but it is satisfying to see a group of good guys who you know work very hard come together and reach their season-long goal.  Plus, I like being in the middle of confetti, beer, and champagne showers.  Hey, it doesn't happen often, so it's not like it's a habit.  I've come to follow the Blackhawks much more closely in the last few years.  They're finally doing things the right way on the ice, and it's paying off.  Contrary to popular opinion, hockey was never dead in Chicago, and now it might be more alive than ever.

You probably looked at my sports "likes" and saw volleyball and thought, "What?"  Yeah, it's tough to follow since there's no professional league here, and it's mostly an Olympic type sport.  I'm not a big fan of the beach variety, either.  Most of the good college teams are on the West Coast, so it's hard to follow the sport itself, but I did cover it back in 2002 when there was a women's pro league.  The Chicago Thunder lost in the championship series 3 matches to 1 that spring.  I had a great deal of fun covering that team.  I mean, what guy doesn't like women's volleyball, right?  Really, though, there were a lot of really great people there.  The players were generous with their time for me and especially for the fans.  I only wish it would have kept going.

I will update my thoughts on the sports world here when I feel it's needed (and when I have time).  Keep checking back for my latest thoughts.